Conventionally, advertisements include a push-type advertisement and a pull-type advertisement. A push-type advertisement is an advertisement that is presented by an advertisement provider (advertiser) to a viewer. A TV commercial message is an instance of a push-type advertisement. A pull-type advertisement is an advertisement that is presented by an advertisement provider at the request of the viewer. For example, Web page information that is accessed by specifying a Web site URL is an instance of a pull-type advertisement.
Push-type and pull-type advertisements are handled separately through different media. Correlation between push-type and pull-types advertisement, therefore, has been carried out through advertising agency operations. For example, in search-engine-tied advertisements, a specific method is adopted, by which a push-type advertisement is run in the form of a TV commercial, the details of which are uploaded to the Web site.
A link between the push-type advertisement and the pull-type advertisement is provided only when an advertisement viewer records link information attached to the push-type advertisement (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2001-76007 and 2004-186791).
An advertisement displaying apparatus has thus been disclosed that executes a push-type display process of displaying a group of advertisements selected from among advertisements according to a display schedule for the group of advertisements and a pull-type display process of switching over to display an advertisement specified by a viewer (see, e.g., Fujitsu Journal, April 2006, New Technology (1), [Online], [searched on May 8, 2007], Internet <URL: http://jp.fujitsu.com/about/journal/289/newtechnology/>). This advertisement displaying apparatus is provided in public places such as stations, airports, and shopping centers, and displays information concerning nearby stores, airport guide maps, etc. on the screen.
According to the above conventional techniques, however, switchover from the push-type display process to the pull-type display process is performed by the viewer, and in some cases, the viewer does not know or has forgotten how to perform the switchover operation.
In the push-type display process, layout for displaying larger characters and images is inevitably adopted to enable a viewer at a distance from the display screen to see the text and images. In such a case, however, the viewer comes to have difficulty in viewing the text and images when approaching the screen, thereby making it necessary for the approaching viewer to switchover to the pull-type display process. Consequently, a problem arises in that the viewer has to switchover to the pull-type display process, which in terms of retrieving detailed information of an advertisement of interest to the viewer, takes time and effort.
The viewer may view advertisements other than the advertisement of interest or as a result of cumbersome operation, may terminate operation, resulting in a lost advertising opportunity. Further, if the viewer executes unnecessary operations and consequently remains in front of the advertisement displaying apparatus, no push-type advertisement is displayed thereby resulting in a lost advertising opportunity to reach many viewers.
In the pull-type display process, since no advertisement is displayed until specified by the viewer, heavy reliance on the push-type display process alone leads to a decline in overall display frequency. In such a case, since the advertiser reaps no benefit in terms of effectiveness with respect to cost, the advertiser determines that the advertising effectiveness is poor, thus comes to purchase fewer advertisements, bringing about a profitability problem. Determining whether the advertisement is cost effective is difficult and poses a problem in terms of the reliability of the effectiveness of the advertising.